Snoqualmie-based ballroom dancers represent U.S. in world championships

After decades of hard work and practice, Snoqualmie couple Kora Stoynova and Simeon Stoynov are one step closer to becoming the world champions of ballroom dancing.

In September, they earned second place at the United States National Championships in Orlando, Florida. The top two placing pairs at the national tournament are chosen to represent the country at the world championships.

At the world championships on Oct. 22, they finished in seventh place, the closest they have come to the title.

“We’ve actually beaten all of the couples in front of us, except for the third place couple,” Kora said. “We’ve been able to beat them. We know it’s within our abilities to do it.”

In competitive ballroom dancing, there are three styles in which participants compete: Ballroom, Latin and 10 dance, which is a combined style of the five dances in ballroom and Latin styles. Kora and Simeon specialize in 10 dance.

“Most will specialize in ballroom and Latin,” Simeon said. “Some are very strong in both styles, like us. We compete in both styles.”

Kora and Simeon have been dancing together since 1999. Kora grew up in the Seattle area with parents who participated in ballroom dancing. She grew to love it as she spent so much time at the dance studio as a child.

Simeon, who was born in Bulgaria, began dancing when he was asked to join a competition by some friends during high school.

The two first met as opponents in competitions during high school, but eventually partnered up and started dancing together in the amateur circuit.

“We were amateur champions for many, many years,” Kora said. “We were the regional champions for 11 years straight, then we we were national finalists as amateurs for seven years. When we turned professional, we represented Bulgaria, which is where Simeon is from, for the first three years.”

They began ballroom dancing professionally in 2011. For the three years they represented Bulgaria, Kora and Simeon were the Bulgarian national champions every year.

They traveled back to Bulgaria at least once a year to dance at the national championships to defend their title, and to compete in the European championships.

Because the U.S. is such a large country with a many competitors, it can be difficult for new professionals to get to the world championships. By representing Simeon’s home country, they were able to get experience in both the European and world championships, Simeon explained.

“We made the final at the European championships, after that we were struggling with the world championships, we were pushing pretty hard,” he said. “One of our coaches suggested we represent America to push a bit harder. We thought it would be a good opportunity for us to flip back to the U.S., do well at the national championships and then have the whole U.S. behind us.”

In 2014, Kora and Simeon began dancing in American competitions for the chance to represent the country at the international level. According to Simeon, their coach set the couple on a new path of improvement by changing much of what they had learned before. Their choreography, strategies and look all changed for their new arena of competition.

In their first two years at the U.S. national tournament they placed third. But in their third year of competition, 2016, they placed second, which earned them a spot at the world tournament, where they placed seventh.

While they have seen improvement, both Kora and Simeon are still driven to win it all.

However, they are not only motivated by the desire to win, but by the support of their students.

In addition to competing professionally, they run Aria Ballroom, a dance studio in Redmond where they take on students of all ages, competitive or casual.

Since opening in 2012, the studio has built up a base of strong amateur dancers who are now winning titles in their own competitions.

In 2016, their students won 17 national championship titles at the amateur nationals. Kora and Simeon want to continue to do their best as role models for their students as well as competitors.

“Because I teach so many kids, I realize I am a role model for them and it takes a lot of commitment to do it for as long as we’ve done and to push it to as high of a level as we’ve done,” Kora said. “We are really pushing hard to win the world championships. That’s our ultimate goal. It’s one thing when you are a kid and say ‘I want to win world championships.’ It’s different when it’s actually in reach.”